Speech Therapy - is the treatment of speech and/or language disorders. Speech disorders refers to a problem with the actual production of words, such as articulation, pitch, fluency and volume. Language disorders refers to the problems with receptive language, or the ability to understand words spoken and expressive language, or the ability to put words together to communicate.

There are a variety of reasons why children might need speech-language therapy, including: hearing impairments, developmental delays, autism, traumatic brain injuries, birth defects (e.g. cleft palates), breathing disorders, weak oral muscles, swallowing disorders and motor planning problems -- all of which can contribute to delayed milestones or problems in children’s speech-language development.

Our pediatric speech-language pathologist (SLP) can evaluate the child to identify the type of communication problems (speech or language or both), for example:

• difficulties producing sounds
• stuttering
• problems with pitch, volume or quality of the voice
• dysphasia/oral feeding disorders, including difficulties with eating and swallowing
• difficulties understanding or processing language
• difficulties putting words together
• limited vocabulary

And, the evaluation will help the SLP find the best treatment and strategies to address the problem which can include activities to stimulate language development, exercises for sound production, oral motor exercises, as well as the use of communication devices.